


Not in the Contract

by jujukittychick



Series: LJ tamingthemuse prompts [19]
Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Animal Heat Cycles, Bi-sexual Owen, Community: tamingthemuse, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Homophobic Slurs, I think I should clarify that - just in case, I think sex with dinos would be extremely uncomfortable...and awkward, Masturbation, Mental bonds, Mild Gore, Minor Violence, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Owen and Barry are BFFs 4ever, Owen and Claire are bros, Owen did not sign up for this shit, Owen's not a slut I promise, Rated for future chapters, Unexpected Side Effects, Vic is a misogynistic homophobic prick, Voyeurism, hand-wavy science, no beastiality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-05 10:24:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4176315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujukittychick/pseuds/jujukittychick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen is one of a kind – the all too human Alpha of a pack of Raptors.  Unfortunately, the mental connection he shares with his girls has some interesting side effects. This was soooo not what he signed up for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic World or their characters and am making no money; I am doing this for my own fun and entertainment. The fandom belongs to its respective creators and owners who *are* making money off them.  
> Beta: NONE! Any mistakes are my own  
> Spoilers: Jurassic World only for the characters  
> Prompt: tamingthemuse #465 - flashback  
> A/N: This is not canon compliant and I have no idea how much of JW’s plot I’ll actually borrow from. In fact I have no idea where this is going at all. This is essentially just an excuse for Owen to play with his pack, and for gratuitous Owen based smut. Most of the smut will probably be Owen on his own, some voyeurism (already planned), there may be some with other people, it may become future Owen/Zach, I have only a vague idea on that part. I’ve borrowed the mental connection idea from several JW stories I’ve read now and other ideas from the Pern series from Anne McCaffery, so if you recognize the concept, you know why.

_It’s okay, girls.  Steady.  It’ll all be over soon._   Owen still didn’t know how much the four prehistoric predators currently penned in individual cages understood of his thoughts, but he tried to send feelings of reassurance down the mental link that bound him to them.  Watching as the cages shook as they threw themselves at the sides, their whistles and clicks sounding their distress and anger, he decided he was going to have to be a little more vocal before one of the humans assisting in the transfer freaked out and caused a pointless incident…again.  “Hey, my girls, it’s okay.  Just a few more minutes and you’ll be in your nice new home; plenty of room to run and hunt, too. I promise.  Just relax, it’ll all be over soon and I’ll get you a nice snack.”  Smiling as the distressed feelings that had been poking at the back of his mind started to calm and the cages stopped their shaking, he stepped forward, motioning for the machine operator to ready the cages for the animals’ release.  “Remember, they _have_ to be opened in order, one through four.  If you don’t, you’re going to get them confused and angry and then _I’m_ going to be angry because they’re going to start fighting each other.  Got it?”

 

“Y-yes, sir, Mr. Grady.”  The operator stuttered and wiped the sweat that was starting to drip down his face, not all of it from the overpowering heat and humidity of the island either.  This was _so_ not what he had been expecting when he transferred to the island.  Moving crates and supplies? Sure, no problem.  Moving vicious animals that could kill you without a thought if something went wrong and they got loose? Not in a million years.  He had heard some of the stories – handlers getting eaten, stepped on, eviscerated – but the pay had been amazing, surely they had fixed those kinds of problems now that the park had been open for a couple years.  Yeah, not so much it turns out.  And now he was moving _Velociraptors_ , animals known for hunting and killing humans on these blasted islands.  If he made it out of this alive, he was putting in for a transfer back to the mainland as soon as he could make it back to the office.

 

Owen watched the operator’s nervous movements, the way the guards, armed as they were with actual weapons and not the usual taser type, shuffled restlessly, eyes darting from one cage to another as their hands shifted to better hold the weapons they held ready.  Rolling his eyes, he waited inside the pen, high walls surrounding him, heavy metal beams and wire netting overhead, just in case his girls _could_ find a way up that high, with a series of catwalks that the guards were lined up on, a jungle behind him, and the only way for him to get out currently on the other side of the cages that were now lined up before him.  _That’s my girls.  I’m here._

 

“Owen…are you sure about this?”

 

Barry’s heavily accented voice floated to Owen over the noise his girls were still making.  Looking around one of the heavy steel cages through the thick bars in front of him, he grinned.  “I got this, Barry.  My girls aren’t going to hurt me.”

 

“Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you, sailor?”

 

Owen’s grin faded and he looked up toward the catwalk and the bulky figure of his, theoretically at least, boss, Vic.  The man annoyed him with his attitude, not only towards him but towards his girls, acting like they were simply some kind of oversized German Shepherds.  “Well, if I’m wrong, Vic, _you_ get to come in here with the girls and try to do my job.  How sure do you want me to be?” Ignoring the “sailor” comment, ‘cause there was simply no arguing with the man about his former job, he took a deep breath to try to relax himself again.  His girls were finally getting their new home, it was time to celebrate.  _Blue, Charlie, Delta, Echo…eyes on me._   He watched the cages still, heard the calls stop and felt their attention focus solely on him.  Absently, he heard the guards draw to attention, raising their weapons, heard Barry shuffling closer to the gate and the subtle slide of metal over leather as he drew his own weapon.  Even the bugs and wildlife had quieted.  Not bothering to look towards the machine operator, he simply raised his voice.  “Let ‘em loose.”

 

The cages opened, in order _thank God_ , one at a time, the occupants stepping into their new home cautiously, nostrils flaring and mouths opening as they took in the scents of the surrounding area, eyes scanning for immediate threats before focusing once more on the all too squishy human in front of them.  Staring each of them in the eyes, one after the other, Owen finally smiled brightly opening his arms out wide.  “Welcome home, girls.” 

 

Raucous chirps and whistles answered him as the four Raptors, each his own height, darted towards him.  A sense of alarm sent from the consciousness he knew as Blue’s as well as her sudden pause as she looked up towards the crosswalk, causing the other three to pause as well, had Owen gritting his teeth and sending feelings of comfort and security towards his girls once more.  Raising his voice, he didn’t even bother to look up, Blue’s eyes were better than his anyway.  “You shoot one of them and I shoot _you_! Put the weapons down!”  A sharp whistle got the attention of his Raptors again.  “Eyes on me, girls.”  The four Raptors stared at him and started to creep closer, sharp sickle-like claws tapping on the ground with each step.  “Oh, come here!”

 

Blue was the first to push forward, butting her head against his shoulder.  Owen smiled softly, his voice quieting as he leaned his head against hers, a jumble of feelings washing between them. “Hey, Blue.    You’re home now, and anybody who wants to cause problems is going to have to go through me to change it.”  A soft chirp and a gentle tap of her tail against his legs was his only answer.  Their brief bonding moment was suddenly interrupted by the feeling of another head butting his other shoulder and a curious chirp.  Laughing, Owen tilted his head the other way and bumped it gently against the one resting there.  “Hey, Charlie.  Delta, Echo, come on.”  The other two Raptors took no time in joining the group hug, or oversized vertical puppy pile, Owen wasn’t quite sure what to call moments like this when he had his four girls dancing around him, happily chirping and clicking as they rubbed against him and each other, their happy feelings washing through him before building with his own happiness and washing back towards them, simply magnifying the feelings with each pass so that he was damn near giddy by the end of it and smiling so broadly his cheeks hurt.  They were always happy to see their Alpha, but after moments like this when they’d been separated not just from him, but from each other, these little bonding moments were made all the more special.  Floating so high on their combined feelings of joy and child-like curiosity towards their new environment, he had to have known _somebody_ was going to fuck it up.  Of course it was no surprise that the pin in this particular happy bubble was also Vic.

 

“Don’t know whether you’re crazy or…no, pretty sure just crazy.  But it’s good, the way you’ve got them wrapped around your finger like that.  It’ll make things easier.”

 

_If ever you girls were to take down a human, he would be the one to go after._

 

Four simultaneous eager thought/feelings of _hunt?!_ echoed through Owen’s mind as he felt the four Raptors freeze and look towards the human that was stupid enough to enter their home.  How he had missed the sound of the hydraulics as the gate was opened just enough for the big man to duck under, he wasn’t sure.  He caught movement out of his peripheral vision as Delta and Echo started to slowly creep toward the other human, sickle claws tap-tap-tapping the packed dirt of the little entryway to their new kingdom as they started to flank him.  Blue and Charlie took up position just behind and to the sides of him.  Later, Owen wouldn’t be sure if it was his own conscience or the knowledge of the trigger happy humans on the catwalks that had him whistle, hand twitching towards the forest.  _No hunting humans…he wouldn’t be that tasty anyway._   “Go on girls, go explore.”  Ignoring the disappointment he felt, and he could swear the four of them would be pouting if they could, he nodded towards the jungle behind him.  “Go on, Vic’s not on the menu today.”  Vic’s startled jump as he seemed to realize that he was almost surrounded by the vicious animals brought a shark-like grin to Owen’s face.  A curious clicking from Blue as the others disappeared into the trees made Owen turn slightly, unwilling to completely turn his back to the man in front of him.  Rubbing the broad stretch of skin from between her eyes down to her nostrils, he smiled softly.  Voice quiet, he nodded towards the jungle once more.  “It’s okay, Blue, go keep your sisters out of trouble.  I can take care of this one on my own.”  Sending reassurance down the connection between them, he turned back to face Vic.  The unhappy hiss from behind him directed towards the other man simply brought back that predatory smile as he heard the heavy footsteps crunch their way through fallen leaves and limbs.

 

“Feisty bunch, aren’t they?”

  
“They don’t like you.” The _neither do I_ was left unsaid, though from the unhappy clenching of Vic’s jaw, he had to assume the other man got the point.  “And what are you doing in here?  I didn’t think you had a death wish _quite_ yet.”

 

“You’ve got them trained, that was easy enough to see.  I wasn’t worried.”

 

“Trained?  You think I have them trained?  Like they’re some kind of circus poodles? You’re even stupider than I thought, then.” Fed up with the man, he stalked toward the gate, gesturing toward Barry to open it up a little.  Looking at the black man as he ducked under the gate, he rolled his eyes, muttering, “Tempted to leave him in there.”

 

The rich, accented voice carried a hint of humor as the man nodded slightly.  “So am I.”

 

Owen took off the holster he was required by company law to wear anytime he was in close proximity to a carnivorous animal on the island, signing it in and locking it up as he called over his shoulder to the stupid man that was still standing inside the pen looking out towards the trees.  “Unless you want to spend dinner time with the girls, I suggest you get your ass out of there.”

 

“It’s quiet out here.  I’m sure they’re exploring further back by now.”

 

Owen banged his head lightly against the gun case, taking a deep breath as he counted to ten slowly.  He felt Barry’s hand squeeze his shoulder.  “He’s such a fucking moron.  Claire wouldn’t blame me _too_ much if he got eaten, would she?” Turning his head, he looked up at his fellow trainer, seeing the same look of fatalistic humor he knew he had to be sporting.  “Right, of course.”  Walking over to the side of the gate, giving Vic plenty of room to duck under once he got the idea, Owen simply whistled two sharp notes, watching as four heads popped up out of the bushes , all within six to ten feet of the completely oblivious man.  _Hold, girls.  No hunt._   Owen chuckled as he could still feel them pouting in his mind even as Vic squawked and tumbled backward towards the gate.  As soon as the gate closed, with Vic inside this time, Owen gave one long whistle and nodded towards the trees once more, feeling the girls’ curiosity bubble up again as they turned and disappeared into the tropical undergrowth.  Blue remained standing out front for a moment longer, hissing in Vic’s direction before looking at Owen.  “It’s okay, pretty girl, go explore.  Try to keep Charlie from chasing the birds into the thorn bushes this time.”  Laughing as he felt/saw Blue’s exasperated eyeroll and felt/heard Charlie’s innocent denials, he let his eyes close for a moment, trusting Barry to have his back as he tracked the four minds through the forest for a bit, making sure his girls were finding everything to their liking.

 

“…me?”

 

Owen blinked, coming out of the semi-trance he had been in as Vic’s annoying voice finally got through to him.  “Did you say something?”

 

Vic’s face started turning even redder than the noonday sun could usually manage.  “I said that the one you favor doesn’t seem to like me much.”

 

Feeling like he was missing something as his mind was still partly with the four Raptors terrorizing the wildlife in their kingdom, he looked to Barry questioningly.

 

“He wants to know why Blue keeps hissing at him.”

 

“Oh, that.  She doesn’t like you.  None of them do.  So she’s trying to warn you away the only way she’s allowed since she’s not allowed to just attack you.  Attacking you would be simpler as you wouldn’t be a threat anymore.  You’d be dead.”

 

Vic stared at him a long moment.  “So why does that one in particular keep doing it and not the others?  For that matter, why does she keep sticking around you after the others leave?  And a threat to who exactly?”

 

Owen still felt lost, like he was missing an important part of the conversation, and he turned to look from Barry back to Vic, head tilting curiously as his fingers tapped absently at the sheathed knife at his hip.   Maybe it was just Vic.  Speaking very slowly, making sure to enunciate each word, he stared Vic in the eyes.  “I am the Alpha.  Blue is my Beta. It’s Blue’s job to protect the Alpha.  She thinks you’re a threat to the pack because _I_ think you’re a threat to the pack.  Otherwise, she would just think you’re food.  Either way, I’ve told them they’re not allowed to hunt humans.  I don’t think we’d make much of a meal for them anyways. But, threat or no, if they decided to, you’ll be the first one they go after.” Pushing off the gate, he stalked past the sputtering man and his human Beta, booted feet quiet on the concrete floor.  A hand on his arm had him stilling instantly, though the firm grip was familiar enough for him to recognize as Barry so he dropped his other hand that had risen automatically to the hilt of his knife.

 

Barry’s soft voice floated to him, through him, tugging at some part of him he hadn’t realized had gotten tucked away.  “Owen, you need to come back to _here_.  You’re saying too much again.”  The last was said with a gentle laugh as the hand squeezed gently, helping to ground him to the _here_ Barry had spoken of.

 

Owen looked back at Barry and blinked, blinked again, and again, each time seeming to drag him through a layer of fog until a part of him clicked into full _human_ awareness, instead of the semi-state he had apparently been in.  Squeezing the hand on his arm, he offered Barry a crooked smile. “I’m good now.  Thanks, man.”  Sighing, he looked over his shoulder at Vic as he sputtered and turned an unhealthy shade of purplish-red.  Thinking back, he winced slightly.  “Probably shouldn’t have said some of that.”

 

“My friend, that seems to be the motto for your life here.” Patting Owen on the back, Barry headed out from under the shaded entry way and towards to the SUV waiting for them, large Jurassic World logo painted on every side.

 

Still ignoring Vic’s yelling and sputtering, and assuming he’d have a write up he’d be in discussion with Claire about later, Owen followed Barry to the SUV, going directly to the passenger side.  Climbing in, he laid the seat back slightly and closed his eyes once more.  He knew it probably wasn’t a good idea, especially after what had just happened, but he could _feel_ how much fun the girls were having exploring their new little kingdom, the pen covering  several miles of territory of varying terrain, and he would love nothing more than to actually be there with them while they did it, but his human legs couldn’t keep up with them.  Maybe he could think of some other way…

 

“Owen…Owen!  Don’t let yourself drift too far; we are headed back to the office area.”  Barry glanced over at the man next to him, already in a half trance and they’d barely started driving.  Looking back at the dirt trail he was following, he shook his head, a small frown tilting his lips.  He had known from the start that this project wasn’t a great idea, and he had suspicions about what exactly they were really planning when it came to “training” a pack of Raptors.  Vic was a little too invested in the program and he always seemed to have a considering look in his eyes when he watched Owen and the girls.  Unfortunately, no one would listen to Barry or Owen, even though Owen had somehow miraculously bonded to all four of the Raptors at their birth and Barry was the most experienced trainer of the group.

 

Owen heard Barry’s words, but couldn’t seem to make himself care, though he did manage to grunt out some kind of acknowledgement.   His mind, or at least a large chunk of it, was already gone, travelling along with four different primal consciousnesses as they ran and jumped, stalked and hunted, _seeingnotseeing_ everything they were doing.  It was like watching four different tv screens all at once but still seeing and understanding everything that was happening plus getting all the sensory input as well.  He’d never been able to properly explain it to anyone – not the doctors, or scientists, or Barry, or Claire, and especially not Vic.  How could he explain to anyone who wasn’t in a similar situation, and nobody had ever heard of what happened to him happening to anyone else.  As far as Owen knew, he was one of a kind, with a mind open enough to link him to not one, but four Raptors.  It had completely fucked up InGen’s plans…not that he was upset about that little fact.

 

.oOo.

 

It had all started two years prior, while Owen was laid up recovering in yet another med bay after getting a couple bullets removed from various parts of his body.  His last op had been a success, but he and couple other members of his team had taken more than a few shots between them all as they made their way to the extraction point.  Nothing life threatening for a change, thankfully, but enough to put him out of commission for a while until the wounds healed and he could go through some basic physical therapy to recover full use of some of his muscles.  It might actually be pretty nice; he’d seen the cute little physical therapist that was working on the base and was already going through options on how to ask her out later.

 

“Mr. Grady?”

 

Owen’s musings were disturbed by an unknown male voice breaking the silence of his room rather abruptly, obviously not military or on the medical staff since they didn’t use his rank, and not much of a people person as he didn’t even bother to  check if Owen was awake first before calling out to him.  Already unimpressed with the person, Owen merely turned his head toward the door where a larger, but otherwise unextraordinary, white man stood followed by an Asian looking man carrying what looked like medical records.

 

“Oh, good, you’re awake.”

 

“Not that it apparently mattered.” Owen couldn’t resist muttering as he watched the abnoxious man grab one of the visitors’ seats and spin it around so he could sit with his arms crossed on top of the back.

 

“I’m Vic Hoskins.  This is Dr. Wu.  We work for a company called InGen.  You’ve maybe heard of it?”

 

Owen looked between the two men, before nodding slowly.  “Yeah, the company behind the dinosaur park…parks.  Though I’ve heard this new one has at least made it past its opening, so congrats or whatever.”

 

Dr. Wu winced, his hands tightening briefly on the files he carried before speaking up.  “Yes, well, InGen is involved in many things, but the DNA testing and genetic modifications we’ve been experimenting with in relation to the dinosaurs have been part of one of our larger projects.”

 

Owen remembered being a kid when the events from the first park made news, and again when the T-Rex invaded San Diego.  He’d been fascinated with dinosaurs at the time, as most kids that age were, and remembered thinking it would have been awesome to actually get a chance to work with the animals.  Of course, all the bad press and multiple deaths surrounding the park kind of meant he’d never get that chance and he’d grown out of the phase. Joining the SEALS right after college meant he was simply chasing human type animals instead of prehistoric ones. 

 

Waiting as the doctor trailed off, he raised an eyebrow curiously as neither of his visitors seemed inclined to follow up with any more information.  Deciding he could always blame the pain meds on anything they might take offence to, he waved the hand not attached to the heart monitor impatiently.  “Okaaaaaay? And what brings you to my recovery room then?  I’m not a dinosaur and I don’t particularly want my DNA scrambled, so….”

 

Vic spoke up once more, smiling good naturedly.  “What my colleague was trying to get at, is that InGen specializes in a lot of different fields, and we’re always on the lookout for candidates that would fit in certain…trial runs we have planned.  We’ve been looking over your records…”

 

“Looking over my records? What the fuck even brought me under your radar?”

 

Completely ignoring Owen’s questions, Vic simply talked over him. “We’ve been looking over your records – raised on a horse ranch, basic degree but with online classes leading towards a further degree in animal psychology, your SEALS stuff of course.”

 

The way the man waved off his actual career work, not to mention the grueling training and missions to get to where he was that day, pissed Owen off more than the man’s general rudeness.  “Once again, how the fuck did you even find out about me and what does any of this have to do with me?”

 

Dr. Wu, perhaps realizing that Vic was pissing off Owen, decided to speak up once more.  “We have a new project we’re wanting to start in the park; it would be completely behind the scenes, nothing for the tourists to see.  We have come to believe that Velociraptors were pack animals, documents regarding the events from previous… visits… to the island have only solidified this.  As pack animals, they displayed an even further aptitude for hunting and were proven to be highly intelligent and capable of solving complex logic problems, for an animal at least.” When Owen started to speak up once more, impatience clear on his face, the doctor decided to get straight to the point. “We have decided to see if we can incorporate human members into the pack if introduced to the Velociraptors at the time of hatching.  The humans would have to be capable of working in a pack type structure as well as having knowledge of basic animal behavior and training.”

 

“So a military version of Dr. Dolittle?” Owen blinked in shock, wondering if they had given him the _good_ drugs today because _surely_ these guys couldn’t be saying what he thought they were.  He remembered back to his dinosaur fan days, to days watching every show he could about them and books filled with information he hadn’t been able to understand completely at the time.  One thing he did remember, Velociraptors, right up there with the T-Rex as being one of the coolest types of dinosaurs.  Fast, smart, and deadly, able to out maneuver a T-Rex due to their size and able to take one down due to their numbers, at least theoretically. And these guys wanted to put squishy little humans with them? That would be like asking a pack of wolves to partner up with a bunch of rabbits.  Then again, if they did get the animals more or less imprinted on the humans at the time of their hatching, maybe…

 

“Okay, you have my attention.  Tell me more.”  Owen should have known right then by the disturbing light in the two men’s eyes that it wasn’t going to go as smooth as it sounded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic World or their characters and am making no money; I am doing this for my own fun and entertainment. The fandom belongs to its respective creators and owners who *are* making money off them.  
> Beta: NONE! Any mistakes are my own  
> Spoilers: Jurassic World only for the characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys, the response to this has been amazing and it’s been out just a couple days at the time I’m writing this. We’re talking the highest in subscriptions and almost as many reads as some of my fics that have been out for over a year. I’m really blown away by all the love you guys have shown this so I hope that I can live up to your expectations. And sad to say, don’t count on regular updates once I get into this; good intentions only last so long (see my other WIPs for proof). So yeah, Owen smut starts this chapter (yay smut!). I decided to go ahead and update tags to mention that there is no beastiality in this fic; no sexing of the dinosaurs for Owen, but you’ll see how the other tags factor in by the end of this chapter. Besides, I kind of think sex with dinos would be rather awkward…and painful… and death inducing… and just no. Also, some foreshadowing for Owen in this chapter. Don’t ask me, I wasn’t planning on it happening.
> 
> Edit 6/23 - I reread things. I fixed things. Silly spelling/grammar issues I shouldn't have missed. Hopefully they're all fixed now

Chapter 2

 

Two years ago Vic Hoskins and Dr. Henry Wu had walked into Owen’s hospital room and told him they were working on a project to pair human soldiers, or those with the same kind of mentality, to Velociraptors that were newly hatched, hoping that imprinting would take place and they’d wind up with a fully functioning pack.  They hadn’t told him _why_ they were wanting to do this, or who thought it had been a good idea, but there were only so many reasons you paired trained killers with natural ones.  He heard them out, his own mind racing over probabilities and “what ifs,” wondering how the pack dynamic would work out if they had a human bonded with the Alpha, if they would then be considered the Alpha pair, how the other animals would be able to accept the adjusted dynamic, how the males and females would work out hierarchy, would men bond with the males and women with the females?  When he voiced some of his questions, that was when he got the real shock and began to get a truly inkling for what the Dr. Frankenstein wannabe was doing.

 

“Oh, no, Mr. Grady, you misunderstand.  Just like with the first incarnation of the park, all of our dinosaurs are female.  Though, after the…problems that were made evident at the time of the original park’s closing, we have made sure to eliminate any DNA that could allow the dinosaurs to become hermaphroditic and reproduce on their own.”

 

The fact that Dr. Wu smiled at Owen like he didn’t see a problem in that scenario to start with made him fight the urge to grind his teeth.  “So instead of just letting nature do what it wants and make a normal spread of male and female offspring, you’re just going to make sure they’re all female?”  He couldn’t keep the doubt out of his voice no matter how hard he tried, though a part of him was satisfied with seeing the smile fall off the good doctor’s face.

 

“It has been proven that males of any animal species are typically more aggressive and more likely to cause issues as they try to establish dominance over each other, with them frequently doing so by killing the offspring of the previous dominant.  That’s unacceptable.”

 

Owen let his head fall back on the pillows, eyes closing as he muttered, “Unacceptable.  Of course.  God knows nature hasn’t been functioning this way since dinosaurs originally walked the Earth.”  He counted to ten as he tried his best to calm his thoughts; no need to let the other two men see what he was feeling when his heart monitor started reacting after all.  Opening his eyes, he looked at the doctor and the mercenary, because that was exactly what Vic was, he’d seen the type before – no loyalty except to the highest bidder and then only if their own wellbeing was ensured.  “So you’re going to have men and women bonding with an all-female pack? What about the Alpha pair? Or is one of the women going to establish herself as Alpha over the rest? And what about when the females go into heat?”

 

Vic broke in, a dismissive look on his face.  “Oh, sailor, sorry to burst your bubble, but there’re no women in this operation.  You oughta be used to that by now, right? No, it’s all men, handpicked from various fields.  I’ll be taking the position of Alpha over the group as team and project leader.”

 

Owen resisted the urge to grit his teeth once more… that or to just get out of bed and deck the smug son of a bitch, existing injuries be damned.  What decade did this asshole think it was?  He could tell just by his tone of voice his opinion on female military members.  Probably thought they were all butch lesbians, too.  Not only were their plenty of female sailors and officers, not nearly as many as male, but times were changing, they were all just as capable at their jobs as anyone else.  Not to mention having grown up with the female members of his family going back to his _grandmother_ helping out on the ranch wherever needed, whether it was with branding or roundups or everyday chores. And this prick thought he was going to manage to establish himself as an Alpha over combat trained military men, much less prehistoric predators.  Owen wanted to laugh in his face.  “And, uh, how much combat experience have you had? As well as experience with training animals? Because there’s no way that Raptors are going to be _tamed_ or _domesticated_.  They’re wild animals.  You might get them to play nice, but that’s about it.”

 

Vic started turning a splotchy kind of red as he seemed to puff up like a blowfish.  “My credentials aren’t part of this discussion and none of your concern, sailor. “

 

 _None then. Explained soooo much_. Owen merely watched the outraged man turn an amusing selection of colors.

 

Dr. Wu decided to try to play peacekeeper again and broke in once more. “And our dinosaurs don’t go through heat cycles, they’re all asexual.  There won’t be any of the associated problems with that kind of issue.”

 

Vic heaved himself up out of the low chair and shoved it back towards where it had been, the metal legs screeching across the tile floor.  “We’re offering you a once in a lifetime offer, here.  If you’re not up to it, just tell us and we’ll move on to someone more qualified.”

 

 _More cooperative, maybe_. Owen plastered his good-will-to-all smile on his face and looked up at the two men.  “You know, I think it’s about time for my pain meds; getting shot multiple times tends to make you a little uncomfortable. Why don’t you just leave your business card and whatever information you’re authorized to, and I’ll look it over when I’m not all doped up?”  His smile turned a little more genuine, and probably a little more evil, when the doctor flinched and the mercenary paled at the mention of why he was in the hospital.  Probably hadn’t bothered to check before they decided to present their “once in a lifetime offer” to him.  He didn’t even bother to watch them leave, just let his mind run over all the information they had presented with him, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face as he thought about Vic’s reaction to receiving even a fraction of the injuries he’d already obtained in the line of duty, though a small part of him kept nagging at him, wondering how they could guarantee that the dinosaurs wouldn’t react like they should naturally even with them playing God.

 

.oOo.

 

One year ago Owen was officially a civilian again, having taken an honorable discharge as his last set of bullet holes wound up being more difficult to heal and recover from than the rest of the wounds he’d obtained up ‘til then.  He’d returned home, back to the ranch he’d grown up on, much to the delight of his mother, his uniforms and medals packed carefully away as he slowly began adjusting to the real world once more.  Physical therapy had taken months but, interspersed with light duties around the ranch, had left him with full mobility once more.

 

During his recuperation, he’d often turned to the small packet of information left by the InGen guys that had come to visit him.  He’d read over information about the new theme park, Jurassic World, about the attractions, the animals, the “vision” as they called it.  He’d found himself pulling up all the new research articles about Raptors he could find online, pulling out his old dinosaur books from the boxes in the attic carefully labeled in big black marker with his name and age range - he would’ve been embarrassed if he hadn’t seem similar boxes with his sisters’ names as well as some in the very back with his dad’s name on them.  He’d started reviewing his old course material in animal psychology.

 

He’d turned over the business card with the name _Claire Dearing, Director_ so many times that the pristine white card was now a smudgy brownish-grey and the ink had smeared in the bottom corner.  A wicked smile always tilted his lips every time he read the name though. _Vic must be so pissed to have to work under her._

 

Owen felt the presence of his favorite mare behind him before she butted her head between his shoulder blades, almost knocking him off the boulder he was sitting on. She was a feisty thing, best known for dumping over-confident riders on their asses when they made the mistake of thinking she was meek and docile.  Probably why she was his favorite – he was a fan of letting people underestimate him.  Tilting his head, he leaned the side of his face against her softly furred head for a moment, taking comfort in her quiet, non-judgmental presence.  He’d been sitting down next to the pond for at least an hour, having escaped both his mother-henning mother and chores in favor of some peace and quiet to think over his options.  He’d saddled up Foxy and rode out to the small pond at the back end of their property and let her wander and graze while he tried to get his head straight.

 

He knew what his family would say about him seriously considering it, the Raptor job – a death sentence waiting to happen (that had been his mother’s favorite when he’d told them he was joining the SEALs all those years ago), so far away (though at least he’d be in one spot instead of traveling all over the world), he’d never played well with others or been one to take commands (hey, he’d learned in the military, he’d _had_ to, though with Vic as his “alpha”…), he’d better not get some pretty young thing knocked up (well, that was his mother again, plus, he kind of had a 50/50 shot of having to worry about that issue since his sexual horizons had broadened a little since he’d signed up, not that he was ever that careless anyway).  He was self-aware enough to realize, that just like with the SEALs all those years ago, he was already coming up with counter arguments to anything his family might toss at him.  Looking up at the horse that was still hovering behind him, he gave her a wry look.  “Well, Foxy girl, looks like I’ve made up my mind after all.” A huff of hot air against the side of his neck let him know how unsurprised the horse was.

 

Holding onto the business card in one hand, he pulled out his cell phone, thumb running over the screen absently before he started dialing.  “Yes, Mrs. Claire Dearing, please.  Me? Owen Grady, calling about the Raptor job.”

 

.oOo.

 

Nine months ago, Owen had arrived at Isla Nublar via the restricted, personnel-only docks away from where the tourists on their giant cruise ships came in.  He’d been greeted at the docks by an uptight looking red head in a solid white dress and heels.  He had been in his favorite worn-in jeans that were frayed at the cuffs and a t-shirt advertising one of the local bars back home; his ship’s bag hanging on his shoulder and an old backpack on his back were stuffed with everything he’d decided to bring with him, clothes, mementos, electronics and all.  For some reason, she didn’t seem very impressed with him.

 

At least her opinion of him improved in regards to his skills, if not his person, as she gave him a tour of the park.  She went over what was expected of him, what they were expecting to learn from the experiment (and funnily enough, the information that Vic and Wu had unknowingly dropped on him while he was in the hospital, and the implications, never came up), where he’d be staying (something about a dorm type building near the “nursery”), and how he was at no time, under any circumstances, to go mingling with the paying tourists.  He had a feeling she thought he’d give a bad impression.

 

For the next week, he’d met and tried to socialize with his fellow “trainers,” though that turned out to be mostly fruitless as they all had similar personalities to the bastard that had recruited them.  And then there was Vic himself, who Owen found out was actually the Head of Security as well, swanning around like _he_ was the Director and trying to give them all orders.  While the other three men more or less followed what the older man said, Owen found himself arguing with him every time he turned around and began wondering if he had made the right decision after all.

 

Making a decision, he went to visit the uptight Director in her ivory tower office.  Okay, so it was more a high class business complex, but still.  Being let into her office, he made himself comfortable in one of the comfy chairs in front of her desk, highly tempted to prop his booted feet on her polished wood desk, but decided that would automatically put her back up more than just _seeing_ him tended to.  As she finished her _very important_ phone call, that sounded awful boring and full of numbers with too many zeros for him to _ever_ want to worry about, he let his eyes close and his mind drift, wondering if they even had something as mundane as horses on the island. He could seriously use a way to wind down that didn’t involve putting a few clips of ammo through a target at the shooting range the guards used to keep their skills up.

 

“Mr. Grady, what brings you here?”

 

Owen cracked his eyes open and looked at her, noticing the faint stress creases around her eyes and wondered when the last time _she_ had taken time to wind down was.  “Thought I told you to call me Owen, Claire?”

 

“And I thought I told you to call me Ms. Dearing?”

 

Owen chuckled and waved a hand at her words, the hint of attitude showing through making him think better of her.  “Stalemate then.”  Sitting up properly, he propped his arms on his legs, hands clasped between his knees. “I don’t think I’m going to work out for this program.”

 

He watched Claire blink slowly, only once, the stress lines deepening before she looked him dead in the eyes.  “It’s a little late to try to recruit someone else with your skill set for this project, Owen.  Why do you think it’s going to be a problem?”

 

He had to give her credit – she was good at her job, getting right to the heart of problems without prevaricating. “In one – Vic Hoskins.  I don’t care if he is the Head of Security for the park; he is not a good choice for the Raptor project.  He’s got no clue what it takes to run a military op, much less be ‘alpha’ for a combined Raptor and human pack.  For that matter, he’s got no experience with animals either from what I can tell.  He keeps talking like we’re going to be able to domesticate these animals and he’s got the other guys starting to believe it too.  Like this is going to be a cakewalk.  We’re talking highly intelligent wild animals, animals that put sharks and big cats to shame in terms of cunning and viciousness. I know you’ve had to read the reports from the doctors and civilians that were here during the incidents on both islands years ago.  Raptors are not going to be able to be tamed. They can play God all they want in the labs, but as long as they're using the base dinosaur DNA, that’s not going to change.  It’s simply how these animals _are_.”

 

Owen realized how worked up he’d gotten, his hands gripping his knees and leaning forward, half over the desk, his hair tousled as he’d run his hands through it in aggravation as he’d spoken.

 

Claire closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair, only the steady, rapid tapping of her pen against the armrest giving away her feelings.  “Vic is…difficult.  He was hired directly by Mr. Masrani, the same way I was.  This whole project was brought up by Mr. Masrani with Vic as ring leader.  Now whether he came up with the idea or someone gave it to him is another matter, but at this stage, it’s beside the point.  The doctors have done their thing in the labs and we have four viable eggs ready to hatch as early as next month from what they’ve told me.  Personally, I’ve been rather…hesitant about this project from the moment it was first brought up.  Like you said, I’ve read those reports about the raptors.  I know they’ve introduced some different strains of DNA into the mix to try to make the animals more…docile… but until they’re born, there are no guarantees as to what their personalities will end up like.  I don’t know if they’re even going to be able to imprint on one human much less four separate ones.  And then to follow a fifth that isn’t even linked to them in any way except through their humans?  In all honesty, I’m hoping Vic will realize that the program is a failure before one of you guys winds up getting killed by one of your ‘partners’ and we can just release them into a pen and try to interact with them like we do the T-Rex or the Mosasaur.  I’m sure the kids would be fascinated with them.”

 

Owen rolled his eyes with a huffed laugh, seeing the calculating look in her eyes at her last statement. “What? Already picturing set feeding times and Raptor Claw toys?”

 

She shrugged, not in the least apologetic, once again meeting his gaze.  “Wouldn’t it be better than the alternative?”

 

Owen…couldn’t really argue with her there.  Especially given the suspicions he had regarding the true purpose of the project.  “Can you at least try to hire someone with some actual animal training background, someone that’s worked with wild cats or wolves maybe?  Hell, hire a lion tamer from the circus; they’d be more qualified than _Vic_.”

 

Claire laughing was actually a very pretty sight, the stress lines around her eyes fading out and her posture losing some of that tense readiness she seemed to carry at all times.  “I’ll see what I can do.”  Calming, she leaned forward slightly, absently toying with the long-empty coffee cup sitting on her desk.  “Can you try to make it through this?  I _want_ to believe in this project, but it’s my job to be the practical one, and I really can’t see this ending any way except badly.  At least I know _you_ will do your best to handle these animals as they should be – carefully.   And I think I can rely on you to come to me with any serious issues that may come up.  I may have my doubts about you as a _person,_ ” she waved a hand at his dusty cargos and worn t-shirt he’d worn to come meet her, ignoring his affronted “hey!”.  “But…as an employee, and as an animal lover, I believe you to be one of the best candidates for the project.”

 

Owen actually felt a little glow of warmth inside him at the words.  “Awww, Claire, you really do like me.” He watched as she rolled her eyes and stood, making her way around the desk.  Pushing to his feet, he let her escort him to the door.  Leaning against the doorway, he gave her his best charming grin, the one that worked in pretty much every bar he’d been in.  “So, you want to go grab a bite to eat one night?”

 

“Your commanding officers didn’t like you much did they?”

 

He grinned even broader.  Hey, it wasn’t a “no” after all. “Only during downtime.”

 

Shaking her head, a smile teasing at her lips, though she valiantly fought it back, she opened the door.  “Is there anything else, Mr. Grady?”

 

“Actually…there aren’t any horses around here, are there?”

 

.oOo.

 

Claire had suggested the herbivore paddocks.  He couldn’t exactly ride on anything, but the way she had hinted that they might help calm his mind gave him the idea that she was speaking from experience.  Taking her advice, he wandered through the park, dodging run away kids hyped up on sugar and adults having meltdowns about whatever wasn’t going their way.  He’d made a stop by the petting zoo, letting the little creatures there climb on him or run into his legs as was their wont, helping some of the more timid kids with their nerves when it came to petting the strange animals.  With promises to the handlers to come back again sometime, he continued on his self-guided tour, stopping by the Mosasaur viewing area to watch the huge animal swim lazily around his tank.  With the subdued lighting and the soft music laced heavily with the sound of gently crashing waves, he could feel the stress begin to fall from him bit by bit.

 

Continuing on, he detoured by the T-Rex pen, asking the handlers if he could hang out with them for a bit after introducing himself.  He was curious about the other predators in the park; maybe Claire had the right idea with the Raptors after all.  As it neared one of the specified feeding times, he watched as the sacrificial goat was loaded into its special cage that would be lowered into the pen with the giant predator.  Leaning on the rail that lined the catwalk the employees used to move around the giant pen, and ignoring the panicked bleating of the goat, he watched the handlers becoming more and more twitchy, checking their watches.  Reaching out, he snagged the sleeve of one of the passing handlers. “Hey, what’s going on?”

 

“Rexie isn’t coming out and the natives are getting restless.” He pointed down towards where the enclosed viewing area for the tourists was.  “We can’t even find her; she’s usually really punctual about her snack times.”

 

“Maybe she’s sick?” It was the only reason he knew of that made any sense if the animal was usually punctual.  It was the reason the horses on the ranch wouldn’t act like they usually did anyway.  Scanning over the tropical jungle, he let his eyes unfocus and his mind drift, a trick he’d learned when trying to spot sneaky coyotes on the wide fields surrounding the ranch.  Raising his arm, he pointed toward one of the back corners of the giant pen, gaze focusing once more, reminding the other handler of a hunting dog.  “She’s back there.”

 

“Yeah, but we need her _here._ ”

 

Owen just rolled his eyes, raised his fingers to his lips and let out the loudest, highest pitched whistle any of the handlers had ever heard, making them clap their hands over their ears briefly, the noise carrying over the trees to the giant predator who had been inspecting the heavy metal door set in the walls there, over the noise of the crowds and drawing several people’s attention, startling the calmly grazing Gallimimuses in a nearby pen into flight, not to mention the birds that had made their home in the trees around the area.  Owen watched calmly as the ground began to tremble and the trees began to shake, the T-Rex finally making an appearance.  “Do you have a set word or anything you use for her snack times?” 

 

“No, not really; I mean, usually, she just shows up.”

 

“Of course.”  Rolling his eyes away from the handler’s view, Owen turned his attention back to the T-Rex and let out a sharp short whistle, gaining her attention.  Pointing down to the goat that was now straining against its rope, making sure Rexie’s attention was on the goat that was now moving frantically instead of him, he let out another short whistle. “Snack time!”

 

Watching as the T-Rex stomped its way forward, after a brief hesitation as she looked back at him, and proceeded to decimate the helpless goat in one quick, albeit messy, bite, Owen nevertheless felt the handlers’ stares on him.  Ignoring them, he lifted his gaze, letting it scan over the pen and back to the corner where the T-Rex had been.  Rexie wasn’t acting like she was ill, which meant there was some other reason she had been back in that corner.  “What’s back there?”

 

“It’s the main animal entrance – huge metal door set in the wall, security cameras, electric cables, the works.”

 

“Yeaaaah.  You might want to have somebody go check that gate.  If there was something more interesting than food keeping her attention back there, you should probably find out what that is.” Not bothering to look back at the T-Rex that was now looking at the catwalks in confusion or the handlers that were watching him, Owen made his way down the steps toward the personnel entrance, calling back over his shoulder.  “I’d also start working with her to recognize set commands.  It might make your feeding times easier.”

 

Joining the general chaos that was a theme park nearing dinner time, Owen glanced at his watch, realizing he had spent more times at the petting zoo and with the T-Rex than he had meant to.  The herbivore paddocks would just have to wait for another day.  He’d head back to the dorm and grab a bite to eat, try to play nice with his coworkers again, and try to put his misgivings aside…at least until he could get a good night’s sleep.

 

.oOo.

 

_Ooga-chaka, ooga-ooga. I can’t stop this feeling…_

 

Owen suddenly sat upright and pushed frantically at the radio buttons until the music shut off.  Feeling decidedly disoriented after his mind had been fractured off into so many directions at once, he still managed to scowl at the radio, managing to earn a laugh from Barry.  “What is with this island and classic rock? Can’t they play anything decent?”  Collapsing back in the seat, he covered his eyes with his hands, trying to pull himself together, sending feelings of comfort/warmth/love to his girls.

 

“And what do you call that noise you usually listen to then?” Barry’s voice carried the hint of laughter as he glanced over at his friend, trying to subtly gauge his condition.

 

“Decent music.  80’s is totally the way to go.” Reaching out, Owen let his fingers slide over the radio controls, finding the button he wanted by touch alone after so much time spent in the same vehicle and grinned as “Welcome to the Jungle” started blaring over the speakers.  Ignoring Barry’s tortured groan, he started singing along.

 

“At this point, my friend, I do believe that 80’s music is considered ‘classic rock’ as well.”

 

“Sacrilege! I can’t hear you!” Singing his lyrics even louder, Owen watched as the large personnel area came into view. A series of multi-level buildings set away from the main park, it housed every important behind the scenes function the park had, including an employee only bar, restaurant, and a gym/dojo/training area.  As Barry parked in front of the restaurant, Owen set his seat upright and closed his eyes as he checked himself over.  Something he’d had to learn to do in the past couple months.

 

Barry watched as Owen gathered himself, reaching out carefully to grasp the other man’s shoulder. “Are you alright, Owen? I can pick us up something to go and take you back to your trailer.”

 

“No.  No… I’m good. I swear.” Offering an encouraging smile, Owen stepped out of the SUV, making himself feel the ground under his feet and the sun on his face, smell the stench of overheated asphalt.  He was _not_ ducking through trees and bushes, his claws were not digging into dirt.  It was getting easier to separate himself from his girls, only taking a few minutes now, but it was also getting easier to fall into his girls’ minds as well.  But he was _here_ getting high quality, underpriced food surrounded by his fellow coworkers.  Maybe he’d have a couple beers.

 

Following Barry into the restaurant, Owen barely blinked before his eyes had adjusted to the dimmer interior lighting.  Ignoring some of the looks he received from the security personnel, his blatant disregard for both their boss as well as most of their orders and security precautions hadn’t exactly won him any friends in that direction, as well as the curious whispers that followed him from people already seated, his bonding with the girls as well as some of the odder experiences he’d had around the other handlers hadn’t made him a lot of friends in that direction either, he found their typical table in one of the back corners of the restaurant.  Sitting with his back to the wall, with clear sight lines to all the exits and most of the windows, he barely even glanced at the menu on the table.

 

“So, Barry, when are you taking one of the shuttles to the mainland to go find a friend for a couple days?” Okay, so “mainland” was a little bit of a misnomer.  It was more the main island, but all the employees had just begun calling it the mainland as it was the only city they were able to get to and back from for a weekend. Well, all the employees except him.

 

Interrupted by the arrival of their waitress, the two put in orders for the daily special and a couple beers.  Waiting until the woman had left them with their drinks, Barry picked at the label of his beer.  “I thought about going this weekend, but with the way Vic was acting today and what happened with you zoning out earlier, I think I’ll wait.”

 

“No, man, it’s cool.  Vic’s always going to be an ass, no matter how long you wait.  And I’m good, with the zoning thing; I’m still aware of my surroundings and all, it’s just…it’s only part of what I’m aware of.”

 

“And what if you decide to go sleep in the pen with your girls?”

 

“To be fair, that could happen any night, it would just be one of the temps finding me instead of you.  Besides, it’s not like they’d hurt me if I did.”

 

“Owen…you can’t know that for sure.”

 

Owen didn’t know how to explain that it was one of the things he was the most sure of – the sun would rise in the morning, his mom would forever worry about him like he was a little kid, Vic would be an asshole, and his girls would never hurt him.  _You guys wouldn’t mind if I slept with you, would you?_

 

Four waves of thought/feelings filled with excitement and joy and love came his way. He could almost hear Blue’s _Alpha stay with us?_

_No, sorry, pretty girl.  Barry and Claire would get mad.  They’re afraid of squishy humans sleeping with you._

 

The confusion came over crystal clear. _You Alpha. No hurt Alpha._

_I know, pretty girl._ He was sending comfort towards Blue, when excitement/hunt/happy/hungry swept over him.

 

“…Owen. Owen!”

 

Barry’s quiet exclamation brought his attention back to his current surroundings.  Guess he wasn’t doing a great job convincing him he was okay to be alone for a couple days.  Realizing that the waitress was standing there with his plate, giving him a concerned look, Owen grinned easily.  “Thanks, sorry about that.  Oh, and can I get a steak, medium rare, no sides?”

 

“Sure?” Giving the two of them confused looks, the waitress left them to their meal, accustomed at this point to the strange ways of the gringo that all the other patrons tended to avoid.

 

“Hungry tonight, Owen?”

 

Owen gave Barry an embarrassed look.  “The girls found some little ground dweller and managed to hunt it down.  Made me want something a little less…cooked.” Poking at his meatloaf with his fork, no matter how tasty it usually was, he chuckled and shrugged. “It’ll be good tomorrow for lunch at least.”

 

Barry just laughed softly and shook his head.  He worried for his friend, but there was truly nothing he could do for him.  He just worried that he would return from a trip to the mainland one day to find Owen missing and the girls nowhere to be found, the whole pack disappeared somewhere into the Restricted Area that encompassed a large part of the island.  “I’ll go this weekend.  Give me a list of whatever you might want or need tomorrow.”

 

“Thanks, man.  Don’t know what I’d do without you here to help keep me sane and stocked in beer and soda.”

 

Barry watched Owen’s easy smile and animated motions as he began eating and talking about some of the things the girls had been up to, and some of the ideas he wanted to try.  Yes, he had a feeling he knew exactly what would have happened if Owen hadn’t had him and Claire around to help keep him grounded to his human side.  He and the girls would have disappeared into the jungle and nothing they did would ever bring him back.

 

.oOo.

 

After their dinner, Barry had left Owen to his own devices while he went back to the employee housing to try to get some sleep and put in his notice for weekend leave. He left the SUV for Owen to get back to his trailer with, setting the box of left overs inside so that his friend would at least have food at some point over the weekend. For Owen’s part, he decided to head to the bar, flirting harmlessly with anyone that caught his eye, putting in his stack of quarters for rounds of pool occasionally, not realizing, or at least not caring, that the majority of the personnel were keeping a wary eye on the Raptor Guy.  They’d either seen, or heard from someone who had, about the strange things that happened around him and the dinosaurs, about the strange whistles that could get anything’s attention, about how the dinosaurs tended to either flock to him or stare strangely at him.  And then there was the fact that he was apparently the Alpha of a pack of Raptors – Raptors that nuzzled and played with him while he yelled at the security guards with their guns.  Of course, the fact that in the past couple months he’d started randomly laughing and smiling for no apparent reason while occasionally talking to himself didn’t help either.

 

Owen knew he’d been behaving oddly ever since Barry left him.  Besides the steak incident, he’d been feeling overwhelmingly competitive…no, he could at least be honest with himself, he was feeling aggressive.  At least the rounds of pool were giving him something to focus on, the ability to essentially strategize and plan an attack before carrying it out… even if it was only on some balls on a table.  He’d seen how some of his opponents had watched him, how very few volunteered to play him again. He knew he’d grown quiet, his movements silent and controlled, in the way his girls did when they were on a hunt, only his finger tap-tap-tapping against his hip where his knife usually sat.

 

It was between rounds when the first wave hit him. Panic, first, that had him pressing back against the wall and scanning everything around him for threats.  Casting his mind out to the girls, he could feel only curiosity and confusion from Charlie, Delta, and Echo, but Blue, his Beta, his pretty girl, had separated herself from the others, her claws digging restlessly into the ground as she chirped and called out in her own confusion. _Blue? What’s wrong?_

 

Another wave of feeling crashed over him, this one had him dropping his beer and gasping, eyes vacant as he stared into the distance, making everyone around him scatter.  Enough of them were aware that he was former military, and assumed he was having a PTSD attack, the rest simply didn’t want to go anywhere near the crazy guy.

_Wantneedhunger_ swept over Owen and he stumbled out of the bar, the crowd parting in front of him as if by magic.  It was dark outside, the cool night breeze making its way from the ocean sweeping over him as he took in great big gasping breaths.  Another wave of _hungerneedneedneed_ hit him, his knees almost buckling before he managed to stumble to the SUV.

 

He was inside, sprawled across the backseat, his pants open and his rock hard cock in his hand as he jerked himself off frantically before he even realized he’d unlocked the vehicle. All he could focus on was the feelings of _want_ and _need_ and _NOW_ as his hand stroked rapidly over his cock, his pre-cum slicking the way as he gasped and arched, feet pressing hard against the closed door.  There was no finesse to his movements, no skill; he might as well be a teenager discovering his body once more.  In no time, he was crying out into the closed confines of the SUV, cum shooting out over his hand and his t-shirt, dotting his lips, body arching off the seat, booted feet leaving imprints in the faux leather door covering.

 

Trembling in aftershocks from the powerful orgasm and gasping for breath, absently feeling Blue tremble as well as the needy feelings subside, at least for a little while, only one thought kept going through Owen’s mind.

 

He was going to fucking _kill_ Wu, the lying mother fucker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm, surprise! So yeah, apparently Owen’s an animal whisperer, or something, and has been doing things as long as he’s been around animals, though he hasn’t realized it. And omg, the backstory of this just keeps growing and growing, so expect more flashback moments. And Claire and her opinion on the project just kinda happened, so yeah, no clue there either. It was a surprise to me too. Also, if you haven’t read it already, go read Tainted (it’ll be on one of the last pages), it’s probably the story that influenced the bond idea most for me in this fandom.


	3. Chapter 3, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic World or their characters and am making no money; I am doing this for my own fun and entertainment. The fandom belongs to its respective creators and owners who *are* making money off them.  
> Beta: NONE! Any mistakes are my own  
> Spoilers: Jurassic World only for the characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *faints* No, seriously, you guys have no idea how fucking blown away I am by all the love you’ve shown me – the subscriptions and kudos and bookmarks and the comments. It’s now officially my most loved story and it’s less than a week old and barely started, much less complete. I really hope I can continue to deliver, no pressure at all *faints again*. So yeah, last chapter you got your requisite GotG reference (I hope you caught it). And a T-Rex summoning instead of Owen spending time with dino-horses (thanks to the commenter that made me think of that one hehe) because I sooo wasn’t planning on that one happening, but yeah, apparently animal whisperer!Owen is now a thing. Plus, you know, confused T-Rex *giggles madly*. And I’m glad you appreciated the smut :D. In regards to future smut… there’s going to be lots of Owen self-loving, some of it with a watcher (and yes, that’s already planned as well as *who*), there may be some het (though omg I’m out of practice writing it *facepalm*), there will be slash at some point (one of that *who* is also decided already). My question to you, my loyal readers, do you want me to warn you ahead of time in the relationship tags? If you’re not one to normally leave reviews, just drop a comment with “for” or “against” if you’d like. Or should I just go with Owen/Multi and leave it as a surprise? He’s really not a slag, I promise lol. He’s a single consenting adult that likes to do naughty adult things with other single consenting adults…sometimes while he might possibly be under the influence of someone else’s hormones.

Eight months ago, Owen had been one of four former military men standing around a strange looking incubator holding four oversized eggs, watching them shake and tremble as their occupants began struggling to escape.  Glancing up at the others, he watched them give the eggs curious, but otherwise bored, looks.  They were watching _Raptors_ hatch, baby dinosaurs; how the hell could they be bored? This was a miracle they got to watch; okay, so it was a science-induced miracle, but still, _baby dinosaurs_.

 

Dragging his gaze reluctantly from the wobbling eggs to where their boss was leaning carelessly against a desk, completely oblivious to the dirty looks the scientist working at said desk was giving him, Owen could see the calculating look in Vic’s eyes.  This wasn’t a miracle, or a curiosity; this was an opportunity, a way to make a bigger paycheck.  Owen could see it as plain as day and wondered why no one else seemed to.  Or maybe he was just the only one to care what might happen to the animals they were there to bond to.

 

A sharp crack echoed through the room and Owen’s gaze fell back to the eggs as if tugged by a magnet; he couldn’t look away now if he’d wanted to.  He felt like the air was humming around him, the hairs on his arm standing, as a sense of waiting, expectancy, filled the now quiet room.  Another crack as loud as a gunshot and a piece of shell fell away exposing a slide of scaled skin before an eye opened up, darting frantically back and forth as the little creature took in everything and everyone surrounding it.  Owen suddenly sucked in a deep breath, not even realizing he’d forgotten to breathe.  This was really happening. The eye blinked and then pulled away from the hole, a clawed hand grabbing hold of the edge instead, that wicked sickle claw already prominent.  Owen watched in fascination as that dangerous claw wound up digging into the now fragile shell, puncturing it and sending a web of cracks out from the point of entry. Another sharp wobble, much like the little animal had slammed against a wall, and the shell split open from that single set of cracks, tiny pieces falling away and revealing more of its prisoner inside. An angry whistling noise came from within and the little creature shoved its head out, chirping and clicking as it thrashed back and forth, trying to escape. 

 

 _That’s it, girl, you can do it._ Owen silently cheered her on as she struggled against her prison, a huge smile gracing his face. He took in the greyish green color of her skin, an odd blue stripe starting right at the edge of her angry gold eyes.  Gold eyes that locked onto him as soon as his thought finished, that stayed on him even though he was at the end of the line of the former soldiers (for some reason, Vic thought he needed to be at the back of the pack when it came to hierarchy, imagine that).

 

“What happen? It get stuck?”

 

Owen didn’t bother looking up at the guy that was supposed to be the “beta” of the group.  Really, none of these guys had any of his respect and he didn’t know how he was supposed to follow them in training much less in life or death situations.  He really _really_ wished he’d stood up to Claire and left the island when he’d first thought about it, but she’d been right – he would be the only one of these assholes who would actually care about the animals themselves.  “ _She_ is fine; she’s just checking out the territory, making sure it’s safe for her to be out since it’s obvious she doesn’t have an actual parent looking out for her.  Isn’t that right, pretty girl?”  Owen couldn’t help the way his voice had gentled when talking to the baby any more than he could’ve if it had been a human baby.

 

“Really, Grady? ‘Pretty girl?’ It’s a vicious killer; how’re you planning on taming these things if you don’t show them who’s boss?”

 

Hearing Vic move behind him, Owen shifted slightly so his back was towards the wall next to him; not like he didn’t trust the man or anything… “Well first off, I’m not expecting any of us to be able to tame them; they’re not domesticated animals.  We’ve had this…conversation… before.” More like raging argument, but whatever. “And besides that, _she_ is a baby; she needs support right now, not discipline.”

 

Putting the other man out of his mind, he let his attention focus solely on the angrily chittering baby. _Come on, pretty girl, don’t you want to get out of that thing?_ Owen smiled again as the baby chirped questioningly at him before resuming her struggles, sharp sickle claws puncturing the egg over and over before she would crash against the sides, finally freeing herself from her prison and tumbling onto the artificial mound of dirt and grass surrounding the eggs. Automatically reaching out to set her to rights, a heavy hand locked around his wrist, stilling his movements just inches away from the tiny creature.

 

“What are you doing, Grady? Johnson’s been designated as second in this group, which means the first hatched goes to him as Beta.”

 

Owen honestly hadn’t thought about it, it was an automatic response – the baby was trying to find her legs, she’d just hatched, she needed to be set to rights and be fed and none of the others were making any motions to help her. Jerking his hand back, and fighting off the urge to show Vic exactly what a bad idea it was to grab him like that, he looked at Johnson and waved toward the baby as if he was a showgirl in a game show. “Well, Johnson, your pack mate needs you. What the hell are you waiting for?” Listening to the pathetic chirps and whistles the baby was making now that she was free, but completely alone and surrounded by strange creatures she’d have no way of identifying, Owen felt his heart clench and had to grit his teeth to keep from reaching out to her once more. _It’s okay, pretty girl; you’ll be taken care of._

 

Feeling what felt like a nudge at the back of his mind, Owen offered a small smile to the baby, making sure not to show his teeth in case she took it as a threat, as it once more looked toward him, chirping pitifully. Focused as they were on each other, it took them both by surprise when a large hand appeared out of nowhere and scooped her up, shooting jolts of alarm through Owen’s mind and almost making him cry out as he started to reach for her once more, to save her, protect her.

 

“Oh, for God’s sake, it’s an overgrown lizard, Grady, stop freaking out.”

 

Owen followed the hand to the owner of the voice, Johnson, another cold-eyed asshole who seemed to hang on Vic’s every word as if it was gospel.  He watched, eyes widening in alarm as he brought the baby Raptor closer and closer to his face, seeing how the baby was thrashing angrily in the man’s ungentle grip.  Before he could even begin to voice a warning, it was too late.

 

“Where’s the food we’re supposed to be giving them anyway? Can’t teach them who’s in charge if we don’t show them who’s supplying their food.  Don’t know what the big deal is anyway; I’ve dealt with wolf-mix puppies with bigger teeth.”

 

Owen watched in horrified fascination as the baby screeched and lunged forward, sharp teeth, sharper than any puppy milk-teeth and controlled by an even more powerful jaw, latched onto…into… the other man’s nose, those dagger tipped limbs swiping out, sickle claw catching in the man’s cheek and ripping downwards.

 

“No! Don’t!” Owen’s warning came too late as Johnson instinctively tried to pull the attacking animal away from him, screaming in pain…and losing the tip of his nose to the overly strong teeth and jaws, his face ripped from cheekbone down to his open mouth.

 

Trembling hands thrust the creature away, dropping her onto the artificial ground surrounding the hatching area before lifting to cradle the man’s face, trying to establish how much damage had been done even as alarms wailed and walky-talkies blared orders for medics and scientists rushed back and away per their own protocols and the other recruits rushed away from the incubator yelling and cursing at Vic and Wu.

 

In the midst of it all, Owen moved closer to where the baby had been dropped and now laid, stunned, mouth and claws coated in blood, crying out weakly. Clicking his tongue to get her attention, much as he would’ve to call one of the ranch’s dogs or cats, Owen waited until that golden eye fastened on him - much too slowly for his peace of mind.  “Oh, pretty girl, what did he do to you? Hold on, okay, I just need to make sure you’re all okay.” Though Owen really wasn’t sure how he was going to manage it; he wasn’t familiar enough with their anatomy to do a thorough check. Reaching out slowly, murmuring nonsense to her the whole time, he ran a finger gently down the slope of her head, between her eyes and down to her nostrils. Getting a small purr in response, he smiled, and let his fingers trail gently over her body, carefully grasping her arms and legs and extending them, checking the still delicate bones for any damage. “Look at you, being such a good girl for me.  I’ll find you a nice treat I promise. And you have your own racing stripes, too; bet you’re going to be a fast one.” Chuckling softly, he let his finger run down the length of her side, tracing the dark blue stripe from head to tail.

 

Seeing her head start to move around once more, visible eye tracking quickly over the moving figures behind him, Owen sighed with relief. _Thank God, only stunned then._ “Think you’re ready to get up and try this again?” A commanding chirp and full body wriggle from the baby was his answer, leaving him laughing softly.  “Alright, then, here we go.” Reaching out with both hands now, he helped the baby to her feet, not even wincing when the whip like tail glanced across his knuckles or the slightly flailing hands grabbed at his sleeves, claws scraping lightly over his wrists.  Running a finger down her head once more, he once again felt the strange little nudge at the back of his mind, a tiny thought/feeling of _home_ and _curiosity_ pricking through him.  “Now, how about some food before your sisters get here, huh?” Scooping her up gently so she could rest against his chest, right above his heart, Owen turned to find one of the scientists, wondering where they had put the ground meat for the babies to eat.

 

He found every remaining person in the room staring at him in shock.

 

Johnson had apparently been carted off to the on-site hospital, but everyone else had frozen where they were as one person after another finally recognized what they were hearing from the direction of the incubator.

 

“You’re fucking insane, Grady!” One of the other recruits was staring at him in wide eyed panic. Owen thought they might need to send him to medical as well for a case of shock. “Didn’t you see what that monster did to Johnson? They’re already doing shit like that right after being born, what are we supposed to do when they’re bigger than us?!”

 

“Hey, keep your voice down; you’re going to upset her.  It’s not her fault Johnson was an idiot.”

 

“Upset…upset _her_?! It mauled Johnson, he’s missing half his nose and his face is torn open! And you want to give it a treat?!”

 

One hand supporting the baby’s bottom half, Owen cupped another hand over her head, muffling the noise from the frantically shouting man, his own features growing hard and ruthless.  “Look, I’m sorry if these guys lied to you or something and made you think that these were cuddly little animals you’d be raising, but you should’ve done your research.  Velociraptor attacks were cited as the cause of death or injury for the majority of people that have come in contact with them since the original park opened. They are deadly, highly intelligent, predators.  There are fossils and information in the welcome building. There’s a whole internet’s worth of information if you logged onto the computer.  Just because you guys came into this without doing your research, it’s not her fault.  And that’s another thing, she is a _she_ , they all are.  Wu there can tell you, they don’t make male dinosaurs.  You don’t even have the excuse of not being sure of their gender.  _They’re all female_. You calling her an ‘it’ is just another way you’re separating yourself from the facts.  And yes, they’re going to be bigger than us.  I’m over six foot tall; this little one,” he bounced the baby cradled against him lightly, getting an annoyed chirp in response that made him smile down at the glaring eye peeking through his spread fingers, “is going to be at least seven foot tall and weigh at least twice as much.  That’s not even going into that lovely sickle claw that can disembowel an animal with very little thought and jaws that can crush through bone in one bite.” He watched Wu shuffle closer to him as the two remaining recruits turned towards the doctor and Vic, anger visible in every fiber of their being.  He couldn’t help the evil little laugh that slipped from him. “Oh my God, you guys really _didn’t_ do your homework.  You just took them at their word.”

 

The mouthy one yelled at Vic, poking him in the chest hard enough to make the larger man sway. “You said they’d be docile!”

 

Wu, now much closer to Owen than the others, spoke up hesitantly, “Actually, I said we had introduced new DNA sources to try to increase their docility, but nothing would be sure until after they were born.”

 

Owen’s laughter echoed through the quiet room, sending shivers down the back of the few scientists who had remained. “You really are idiots.  You can’t have a pack of killers if all they want to do is cuddle.  Docile, my ass, you just wanted them more open to suggestion and training.  What do you think Vic over there is really after? You don’t just pair up people that’ve learned to kill with animals who are born to do it unless you have a purpose.”

  
“Enough, Grady!”

 

Vic turned angry eyes on him, causing Owen to merely raise an eyebrow mockingly. “Oh, aye aye, Captain, Sir. This another version of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell?’ Just about secret dinosaur plots instead of sexuality?”

 

“Yeah, you would know all about that, wouldn’t you? Not surprised you’re a fag as well, cooped up on that boat with all those other men.”

 

“Oh, you know it; nothing like a big, hard d…”

 

“Grady!”

 

Owen’s smart ass grin could have lit up the park. The asshole didn’t know who he was messing with if he thought a couple of insults were going to upset him. Fucker still didn’t know anything about actual military service…kinda made him want to introduce the asshole to the last First Officer he’d had, she’d knock the wind right out of his sails.

 

A pitiful cry had him looking down, his smile fading. “I’m sorry, Blue.  Bet you’re starving now, aren’t you?” Turning to look at Wu, his voice hardened once more. “Where’s their food? Blue’s starving and the next egg is going to hatch soon.”

 

Wu stopped short on his path to the refrigerated room set in the wall nearby, his head whipping around to stare at Owen.  “How do you know that? Do you know which one?”

 

Owen gave the doctor a confused look before looking back over at the still wobbling eggs, not realizing his gaze had gone slightly unfocused again. Pointing toward the egg at the very back of the odd “nest,” he looked back at Wu, “That one.  I mean, it’s time for another to hatch anyway, but that one should be next.”

 

“Interesting.” Wu hesitated for only a moment before retrieving two dishes of the meat mixture they had prepared for the babies, setting them on the artificial turf since Owen had his hands full. He couldn’t help but study the way Owen acted with the baby Raptor, the way his head would tilt toward the incubator as if he was listening to something occasionally.  He’d been hearing the gossip, about the Raptor project guy that caused strange things to happen around the other dinosaurs.  Maybe they picked the right person for this project after all, despite what that idiot Vic thought.

 

Crooning down at the happily eating dinosaur in his arm, Owen fed her another pinch of the meat mix, dropping it into her waiting open mouth. “Who’s a good girl? You’re going to be such a good big sister, aren’t you?”

 

Ignoring the angry voices that were rising and falling in the corner holding Vic and the two remaining recruits, as well as Wu’s near-fanatical staring, and the scritching of pen over paper as some scientist or another apparently took notes, Owen focused on feeding his pretty girl, one fingertip rubbing gently over her distended belly when she finally seemed to hiccup and decide she’d had enough. “Maybe I shoulda called you Miss Piggy instead.” Chuckling softly at the affronted sounding chirp she gave him, he set her down on the turf, making a note to get one of the scientist lackeys to go fetch a box with some soft blankets or something to put the girls in.

 

He’d just gotten her relaxed when another gunshot like crack echoed through the room.  Turning back towards the eggs, eager smile on his face, he found that the one in the back was indeed the next one to start making her way out.  “Come on, girl, you can do it.”

 

“What do you think you’re doing, Grady? You’ve already got one imprinted on you, and not the one you were supposed to either.”

 

“Are you insane, Hoskins! I’m not going near those little monsters.”

 

“Count me out too, man; I like my body parts where they’re at.”

 

“You signed contracts, you can’t back out now.  What about the project? What are we supposed to do if you guys don’t step up?  I’m already going to have to take one of the little beasts and force it into Beta position over Grady’s”

 

Owen’s eyebrows shot up at Vic’s words.  God, the man was too stupid to live. He was going to “force” a Beta position over his Blue? Yeah, good luck with that.  Looking away from the eggs, he settled his unimpressed gaze on Vic. “Just call Claire and let her deal with the legal stuff. It’s kinda what she’s good at.”

 

“Claire? Who the hell’s Claire? Whatever girlfriend you have here on the island doesn’t need to be brought into this.  These two have signed contracts just like you.”

 

Owen blinked dumbly then looked over at Wu. “He’s not really _that_ fucking stupid is he?” 

 

Wu, probably wisely, remained silent on the matter.

 

Glancing over at Blue and the eggs, making sure they were all okay for the moment, Owen let his attention focus back on Vic. “Claire.  As in Claire _Dearing_ , you know, the lady that runs the whole goddamn island?”

 

“That’s Ms. Dearing to you, Grady.”

 

“Oh, nice that you know who she is _now_. And she’s been Claire to me since the day she met me at the docks.  Just call the woman; she’ll get things sorted out. Hey, you, science lackey,” Owen snapped his fingers at one of the scientists still mostly cowering against the far wall and bit back a laugh as startled eyes met his. “Call Ms. Dearing and tell her Owen said she’s needed for an issue with the Raptor hatching.”

 

“Y-yes, sir.”

 

“You can’t just do that, Grady.  She’s got no business here! This is my project and…”

 

“Really? ‘Cause last time I checked, she’s the one who signs my paycheck and probably theirs too, so she’s got all the right in the world to be here if there’s an employee issue.  She’s already going to be thrilled to find out about the employee injury that happened under _your_ watch.”

 

Another loud crack drew Owen’s attention away from the blustering man and back to the eggs where a large chunk of shell had fallen off and Owen had a brief déjà vu moment as a bright gold eye peeked out of the hole in the side of the egg.  “Hey there, girl, come on out; there’s lots of people waiting to see you.”  The gold eye focused on him and he smiled, feeling that weird nudge at the back of his mind once more.  Blue chirped curiously and he set her on the “nest” area so she could get a better look.  “Look, Blue, that’s your sister in there.” 

 

Owen smiled warmly, watching as the second born attacked her egg the same way Blue had with Blue’s chirps and whistles urging her on.  _That’s it, girl, you can do it._ “Just a little more, and we'll have some food for you.” That seemed to be just what the little one needed to hear, whether she could actually understand the words or not, as she shoved the top part of her body through the gaping hole that now existed, the scratches of her sharp claws on the inside of the shell making it known that she probably wouldn’t be stuck much longer.

 

Attention still focused on the struggling baby, he still heard the very distinctive clicking of high heels on tile growing closer to the room, the staccato beat sharp enough that he just knew the owner was pissed off at having to stop whatever she’d been doing to come down there.  “Hey Claire.” He waved at the redhead over his shoulder, not bothering to look for her.

 

“Mr. Grady.” Claire huffed and rolled her eyes at the infuriating man’s back, though anybody listening could hear the affection in her voice, before her gaze was caught by the anxiously hopping baby Raptor and the one that had almost made it out of her shell. Walking over, she rested a hand on his shoulder as she slightly leaned over him, a look of amazement in her eyes, her voice soft. “It never gets old - watching this happen.” Straightening up, she tugged at the end of her blazer, straightening her clothes and once again assuming the strictly professional persona that she’d mastered. “So, what seems to be the problem?”

 

Owen tore his gaze from the angrily chirping baby to give Claire a very pointed look before waving towards Vic and the two recruits.  “Vic and Wu misled them and now they don’t want to be part of the project after watching Blue eat Johnson’s face.”

 

Claire stared hard at Owen’s back, counting slowly backwards from fifty, and ignoring Vic’s blustering coming from the corner.  “What do you mean she _ate_ Johnson’s face? Please tell me you’re being overly dramatic again, Owen. She had to have been just hatched. Why didn’t you do something?!” 

 

She missed the surprised looks that everyone in the room gave them at her outburst. The fact that she was expecting _Owen_ to keep things under control instead of Vic, who was the team leader and head of security, or Dr. Wu, who was the head of the whole dinosaur breeding program, said a lot.  Everybody had started hearing rumors about the man within weeks of his arrival, about the strange things that happened around him, but apparently the big boss knew about them and, apparently, knew them to be true.

 

Just as the second hatchling was about to spill from her shell, Owen looked up at her, his eyes sparking with emotion as he said as calmly as he could, “I wasn’t allowed to touch her, Claire. They didn’t even want me talking to her, and then Johnson just grabbed her. He scared her and he was holding her too hard and insulting her and then made the stupid mistake to bring her next to his face before she could even get food. Then he dropped her, and if she hadn’t been over the nest area, she would have fallen all the way to the floor.”

 

Nodding towards the angrily chirping baby at the back of the incubator, Claire reached up to squeeze Owen’s shoulder once more, her voice soft as she spoke. “Your girl just made her escape; go take care of her.”

 

Clasping her hand for a second, Owen turned his back on the whole lot of them and focused solely on the little creatures that couldn’t yet fend for themselves. Snorting a laugh as he got a good look at the second born, he reached out to set her to rights.  Apparently when she ‘made her escape,’ she pretty much just took a header right out of the opening and wound up ass over teakettle with her legs and arms kicking in the air while she screeched angrily, Blue simply tilting her head to look at her sister curiously…or like she was crazy…it was kinda hard to tell. “Oh, girl, what did you manage to do to yourself? Calm down, Owen’s gonna make it all better, I promise.” Letting Blue and the newborn chatter at each other, Owen fetched the second bowl of meat. Clicking his tongue to get the girls’ attention, he fed a tiny pinch to Blue before giving a much more regular size portion to the other, watching as she ate it all. “Good girl, Charlie. I know, it’s not a very girly name, but I’m not that creative when it comes to that stuff.” Smiling as she tilted her head back and forth, studying him, he once again gave Blue a little bit of the mix before holding out a portion for her. “See, Blue here is your big sister, so you’re gonna have to forgive her ‘cause she’s gonna be bossy as hell, but she’s your sister and pack so it’ll be okay.”

 

Owen once again felt that strange nudge in his mind, the feelings of _home_ and _curiosity_ trickling down his spine. Reaching out slowly, he ran his finger down the broad plane of Charlie’s head, the same way he’d done with Blue, smiling as she pushed into the gentle touch. _Such a good girl, feisty, but a good girl._ Charlie chirped demandingly at him and held her mouth open, killing the quiet moment. “Yes, yes, I know, you’re starving.  We’ll get you all fed up.” He continued the process of feeding Blue little bits of meat before feeding Charlie for a couple more minutes, helping to reinforce the order of the pack in the most basic way before Blue hiccupped again and kicked up some of the turf before settling down.  “Guess she’s had enough. Rest is all yours, Charlie girl.” An excited chirp and nudge against his fingers was all the encouragement he needed to continue.  Soon enough, Charlie’s belly had filled up and she joined her sister for a nap.

 

After wiping his hands off on a damp towel that had mysteriously appeared at his side at some point, probably about the same time a chair had miraculously appeared behind him as well, Owen closed his eyes and stretched, twisting left and right, sighing as his back popped.  Reaching out, he let his fingertips trail lightly over the two remaining eggs, smiling as the occupants seemed to track the warmth of his fingers and butt against it.

 

“How much longer do you think it will be before the others hatch?”

 

Wu’s gentle voice tugged Owen out of his contemplative state, making him blink before focusing on the other man. “Probably in the next hour or so.” He brushed lightly over the eggs as he spoke, “Delta, then Echo, if not right after the first, then within a couple minutes.”

 

Wu didn’t argue with his prediction. “Delta and Echo? To go with Blue and Charlie?”

 

Owen gave an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah, well, military alphabet and all, except for Blue, but with those stripes, what else would I call her?” Shrugging, he looked around the room, noticing that the scientists had returned to their stations and Claire, Vic, and the others had apparently left. “The others?”

 

“Yes, I believe Ms. Dearing and Mr. Hoskins are having a…discussion. She said she would return afterwards.”  Wu looked at the odd young man in front of him, the way his eyes were continuously drawn back to the sleeping Raptors and the unhatched eggs, the way his fingers would pet lightly over all of them.  “If you’d like to freshen up before the others hatch, there’s a restroom and some vending machines down the hall.”

 

Owen looked back at his sleeping girls, biting his lip in indecision.

  
“I’ll be here to watch out for them and will have someone come get you if they look like they’re waking.”

 

Owen hesitated a moment, but realized he really could use a short break at least. Between the blow up with Vic, and Blue attacking Johnson, and caring for the two newborns, all on top of his typical busy afternoon routine, he was running on steam.  Nodding, he gave the incubator and his two sleeping girls one last look before making his way to the restroom to wash his hands and splash some water on his face.

 

He’d just finished a can of overpriced soda when he felt the first jolt of alarm, his body automatically going into flight or fight response, which for him meant he was reaching for the weapon at his hip, only to have his fingers brush denim.  Right, Vic said he wasn’t allowed to carry a weapon.  Looking around, he tried to figure out what had triggered the response only to have it happen again. A frantic pushing at the back of his mind and prickly thought/feelings of _scared_ and _alone_ and _Alpha_ stabbing at him like the clutch of sharp little claws had him racing back down the hallway before the science lackey even reached him.

 

“Mr. Grady! They’re…” he was already down the hall and darting into the hatching room, “up.”

 

Owen was greeted by scared whistles and clicks as the baby Raptors searched the area frantically, angrily striking out towards any hands that came near them.  “Hey, hey now, that’s no way to act.  I’m right here.  It’s okay, hush now, it’s okay, I’m here.” _Poor babies, I’m sorry, sorrysorrysorry._

 

The two Raptors started to calm at the first sound of his voice, heads swinging towards him as they called urgently to him.  Reaching slowly towards them, careful of them potentially striking out, Owen let his hands run gently down their backs, a fingertip brushing gently down their heads as he murmured apologies to them. “I’m sorry, babies, Alpha’s here. It’s all going to be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON’T KILL ME! (you won’t find out what happens next) I’m sorry! This was not how this chapter was supposed to go, it was supposed to be light and fluffy hatching moment and then Owen confronts Wu and OMFG this happened instead. So instead of one super massive chapter (which would happen if I included everything I was planning), you’re getting it in two installments. So here’s part one, part two should appear in a couple days since I apparently can’t stop working on this. That and I think some of you might actually come hunt me down if I don’t provide the next part…
> 
> Oh, and in case anybody was curious about his whistle (though nobody’s actually mentioned it so far), the reason the sound carried so far is because he was so far off the ground (the catwalk is built above the pen, which means it’s pretty high in the air to be above Rexie’s reach) and there’s very little noise pollution aside from the crowds bustling around or cheering.
> 
> Also, I’m planning on doing an offshoot of this story, it will be called Beyond the Contract. It’s essentially going to be a mashup of various scenes from pretty much everybody else’s POV. Some of them may be crack or random crossovers or AU versions of things, but I’ll specify at the beginning how it’s classified. Some of them may be from OCs’ POV, in fact the first bit I’m planning will be. I’ve already got two so far I’m planning on from Claire’s POV. Some will contain Owen-centered smut from someone else’s POV. It may contain photo manips I decide to do. There’s no telling.


	4. Chapter 3, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the employees get to see what Owen can do to people and not just raptors. Claire winds up with a paperwork nightmare from hell. You guys are still probably going to get a kick out of Wu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the people have spoken, Owen/Multi it is. And in case any of you are curious/worried, there won’t be any three/moresomes. You’ll possibly have seen new tags up if you looked. Regarding the I-Rex…I honestly don’t know if I’m going to include that whole mess. Like I said in the beginning, I really don’t know where I’m going with this; I may just leave Vic as the “bad guy.” Also, in case you somehow missed it, Beyond the Contract is now up. So, I know I told a few of you this would probably be up by this past weekend, but I hit a wall. So I fixed the writer’s block issue but, sorry, Delta and Echo’s hatching will be next chapter, something else wanted to get written instead. This chapter, you get gratuitous Owen smut and violence (like barely, there’s not even any gore) *tada*.

Owen jerked upright in bed, the strange dreams that had helped make for a restless night slipping away as soon as the ache in his muscles made itself known instead. “Owwww, fuck.” Collapsing back on the bed, he reached down to rub over his aching abs, accidentally brushing against the head of his dick, hard for what seemed like the zillionth time since he’d stumbled from the bar the night before. Hissing in a sharp breath, he jerked his hand away and looked down the length of his body. As soon as he’d managed to get home from the bar, he’d stripped off his clothes, the worn in fabric, soft as it was, just rubbed over to many of his erogenous zones for it to be comfortable to stay dressed. His abs were spasming slightly from the numerous times his body had drawn tight and hunched forward with his orgasm. His dick was an angry purplish red with how hard he was, a small puddle of pre-cum having already gathered in his navel, and it had that almost raw over-sensitized feeling from having way too much attention paid to it the night before by his own calloused hand. Giving his dick a dirty look, he grumbled, “Hell, you didn’t act like this back when I was a teenager; what the fuck?”

 

Ignoring the growing sensation of _wantwantneedneed_ , he rolled his head towards his clock, groaning as he saw it was only 5am. Muttering obscenities picked up around the world from several different military bases, naval ships, and natives, he dragged himself out of bed and made his weary way towards the bathroom and the waiting shower with an excellent supply of hot water and perfect water pressure.  Turning the handles to get the right temperature, he turned to look at himself in the mirror while the water heated up, halfway dreading what he’d see.

 

He’d been right to not want to look.  Dark circles framed bloodshot eyes, a side effect of waking up almost every hour to jerk off, his hair was sticking up all over, and there was dried cum flaking from his stomach.  Seeing his dick bob around with his pulse and weary breathing, as if it was waving happily to him, he held up the middle fingers of both hands, “I hate you so much right now.  Actually, no, I hate Wu right now.  In fact, I hate Wu more than I hate Vic right now.  And as soon as I’ve gotten cleaned, jerked off for the umpteenth time, and gotten dressed, I’m going to go beat the shit out of him.”

 

It was probably a good thing he was single and lived alone, because if anybody had seen him flipping off his own dick and talking to it…well, they may have called the medics.  At that point, Owen didn’t really give a flying fuck – he was half asleep, hornier than he’d ever been in his entire life, including when he was a teenager and just figuring out what his dick was for, his body ached, and he had four Raptors pushing at his fragile mental walls in various stages of distress.

 

Stepping into the bathtub, he leaned forward against the wall, letting the hot water cascade over him, hoping it would help relax some of his muscles.  Opening his mind a little, he checked on the girls, wanting to make sure nothing else had happened. Blue was pacing the pen, alternately crying out pathetically and angrily attacking the dense foliage.  He couldn’t really blame her since he’d become overly familiar with that empty needy craving since the first moment it had slammed into his mind in the bar.  On one hand, his body ached and he didn’t want to _think_ about sex for at least a week, on the other, he’d found that every time he got off, it pushed that craving back for at least half an hour, and if he was really lucky, up to an hour.  This was so incredibly fucked up.

 

_I’m sorry, girls; I’m so sorry I can’t fix this. I’m going to try to find someone who can._ Sending Blue what thoughts of comfort he could manage, he pulled back from her mind as much as possible without shutting her out completely.  There was no telling what would happen if she suddenly felt completely shut off from her Alpha after all these months with the way she was feeling. The other three were sleeping restlessly, unable to reach a deeper sleep due to Blue’s cries, but otherwise feeling normal; they were simply upset because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with their sister.  Sending each of them thoughts of comfort, he pulled back from them as well, making sure he was completely back to himself before focusing on bathing so he didn’t accidentally brain himself by slipping on the wet tile or something equally as dumb.

 

Instead, he wound up focusing on the feel of the water sliding down over the muscles of his shoulders, the small of his back, the curve of his ass, and he felt his breath catch. “Shit.” Reaching out, he grabbed the bath gel and his bath puff – he’d grown up in a house full of people and had had to get used to quick, perfunctory showers in the Navy, so long, sudsy showers were one of his very few indulgences he allowed himself now.  Working the gel into a thick lather, he pointed the showerhead towards his feet and started washing his arms, shivering as chill bumps followed in the wake of the rough material dragging over his skin followed by the silky suds.  As he started on his chest, a moan slipped from him as the mesh puff caught on his already hard nipples, soap suds slipping lazily down the center channel of his abs, making his stomach clench yet again.  Deciding to switch to washing his back before getting anywhere near his still hard dick, he had to grit his teeth as the slightly rough fabric once again raised chill bumps in its path and those damn soap suds slicked their way over the small of his back and between the cheeks of his ass, teasing over his hole. He cursed loudly, breathing heavily before he dunked his head under the shower spray for a long moment.

 

Realizing he might as well get this part of his morning over with anyway, otherwise he’d never make it out of the shower, he leaned his shoulders back against the wall, body bowed out as he coated both hands with the soft foam before letting the puff drop to the floor. Body jerking as he wrapped one hand around his throbbing dick, he hesitated only a moment before letting the other slide over his ass, one finger slipping down the crevice to drift lightly over his hole, dragging a ragged moan from him.  Despite the information he’d taunted Vic with months prior, the last time he’d been with another guy was at least a year before he’d moved to the island, “don’t ask, don’t tell” may have been repealed, but it still wasn’t a good idea to go flaunting your sexuality around some people, and definitely not in some countries. His attention flitting between the slow slide of his hand over his aching dick and the finger that was slowly teasing around the rim of his hole, he let the thought/feelings of _needneedwantneednow_ flow through him, seeming to relax his body enough that his finger easily slipped into his tight passage up to his second knuckle.

 

Moaning, eyes closed and breathing roughly, he let himself just concentrate on the feelings going through him, slowly working his finger in and out of his entrance until he gradually managed to work his whole finger inside, his knuckles pressed tight against the sensitive skin underneath while his other hand stroked lazily over his dick.  Cursing the bad angle, he twisted his hand as much as he could, trying to find his prostate with his fingertip, only managing to tease himself that much more without finding that extra nudge he wanted.  Body strung tight, his hand squeezed briefly around his dick as he started stroking harder, _faster_ , as his movements became more and more uncoordinated; his finger slipping out of his hole every couple of thrusts as his hips started bucking from one point of stimulation to the other, just made him feel that much more frantic.  The needy moans and gasps being torn from him bounced off the tile walls and mixed with the noise and steam from the shower, his body, coated in a layer of condensation and sweat, trembling and arching.  As his orgasm tore through him, his eyes flew open, unseeing of anything, his mouth open in a silent yell as his body bucked and clenched, only a tiny spurt of cum coating his fingers after how many times he'd gotten off the night before.

 

Legs trembling, he slid down the wall until he could sit on the floor of the tub, his head leaned back as he fought to catch his breath and calm his frantically beating heart.  A sobbing laugh slipped from him as he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He was so incredibly fucked.

 

.oOo.

 

It had taken him longer than he’d liked to finally take a very perfunctory, military quick, shower, rub some soothing lotion into the skin of his irritated dick, and get dressed for the day. Everything he did just made a different set of muscles hurt or rubbed against some aching body part and he really would have liked nothing better than to crawl back into bed and tell everyone to talk to him in a week if they needed him.  On the upside, apparently the needy feeling he’d been picking up from Blue had been lowered substantially since his little shower moment.

 

Tapping his finger against his hip irritably, Owen debated for only a moment before strapping on the regular set of weapons he normally carried, hidden knife in its sheathe set inside his boot and the wicked looking knife, that had freaked out more than one person on the island, that he normally wore on his hip.  The only thing he was missing was the taser gun he was mandated to take in to the Raptor pen, and that was in the lockup there.

 

Completely disregarding his motorcycle, there was no way in hell he’d be able to ride it all the way into the employee complex from his trailer without getting horny, getting hard, and therefore end up in pain as his cargos pulled tight against him.  No, nope, not happening.  SUV it was.  Not even bothering to turn on his favorite CD, he left the stereo off, only the engine noise and scrape of branches against the vehicle and the occasional overly loud yell of one of the dinosaurs making its way inside the vehicle.  The whole ride to the lab, his thoughts circled from how miserable he was feeling to how miserable _Blue_ was feeling which led back to the whole reason why _he_ was feeling miserable and ended with him beating the shit out of Wu.  His conscience would war with him a bit, and then the thoughts would start up again.

 

Feeling more than a little on edge, he was gritting his teeth by the time he pulled up in front of the lab.  Getting out of the SUV, he slammed the door behind him and made for the steps to the entry way, each one just ramping up the simmering anger inside of him as it made him ache in different ways.  The guard at the door gave him a wary look but didn’t halt his entrance; he had authorization to be in the lab building, it was just the specialized rooms inside that required clearance.  Stopping at the reception desk inside, he looked at the man staring at him with wide eyes. “Where’s Wu?”

 

“I-I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t tell you where Mr. Wu is. He has classified work, and…ah! Don’t hurt me!”

 

Owen had reached across the desk and grabbed the man by the front of his button up shirt, dragging him halfway over his desk as he looked him in the eyes, his voice deceptively calm and soft.  “Tell me where Wu is or I will come back there and find out myself.  Do you understand me?” Releasing the man unharmed, he watched as he started typing away at his computer, scared eyes darting up to look at him repeatedly.  It was probably just over a minute he stood there, hands on hips, legs braced apart – there was really no other comfortable way for him to stand at the moment that wouldn’t put pressure on one of his erogenous zones, his clothes were bad enough.

 

“Y-yes sir, here he is. Dr. Wu is in lab 215 th-this morning.”

 

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Striding off down the hall, Owen could hear the man fumble for the phone on his desk, his hastily whispered words, and wondered how much of a welcome committee he’d have by the time he arrived.  The thing about the security personnel that Owen had learned from a combination of a little research, Vic’s big mouth, and simply watching them, was that very few of them were actually military or law enforcement trained, and of that small percentage, only a handful had been in any kind of specialized services like himself.  What this meant, as he made his way down window lined corridors, is that it took him very little effort to disarm, knock out, and secure whichever security guard happened to try to stop him.  He should probably point this problem out to Claire later.

 

A hard thud hitting the enforced window of their lab, had all the scientists and interns inside jumping and turning towards the source, eyes growing wide as they started yelling to their co-workers or grabbing phones to make frantic calls when they got a look at an enraged Owen Grady pinning one of the security guards to the window before letting him go, their gazes locked on the unconscious (they hoped) guy sliding to the floor.  One of the women grabbed her phone and ducked under her metal desk, frantically dialing and waiting for the phone to be picked up. “Ms. Dearing! It’s Mr. Grady, he’s gone crazy or something, you’ve got to get down here or send the army or something, like now!”

 

Owen ignored the science lackeys scurrying around inside the lab and focused on the guard standing in front of the door.  He could tell the man was trying to stand firm, but Owen could see the slight trembling where the man held a stun rifle approved for human use.  “Just let me in.  I won’t have to hurt you, you won’t have to be unconscious, and we all win.”

 

“I can’t do that, Mr. Grady.  You know that.  You wouldn’t just let me in either.”

 

Owen nodded, very proud of the man for both standing up to him having just seen what Owen had done to his co-worker and for being loyal to his job. “You’re right; I wouldn’t do it either.  Promise I’ll make this as painless as possible then.”  Before the guard could even finish pointing the rifle at him, Owen had ducked down and to the side, aiming a blow at the man’s arm, making him cry out even as his hand lost feeling and he dropped the gun.  It was only a matter of moments before Owen had him knocked out and secured on the floor after that.  Taking the security key from his belt, he swiped it through the card reader and grinned, rather terrifyingly from the scientists’ point of view, as the door slid open.

 

Sweeping his gaze over the cowering science lackeys, not spotting the one he was after, Owen yelled. “Wu, get out here!” Lowering his voice slightly, he looked at a group huddled together and inching their way to the door. “Where’s Wu?” Watching them frantically shaking their heads, he once again had to give them all credit for their loyalty. Raising his voice again to make sure it carried through the all the connected rooms in the lab, he yelled, “Everybody get out! Wu, get your ass out here!”

 

Standing out of the path of the door, middle finger tapping agitatedly against his knife, Owen watched as everybody made as quick of an exit as possible, his eyes scanning over every face to make sure that his target didn’t scurry out with them.  As silence fell over the room, aside from the various mechanical whirring and beeping, Owen made his way further back into the lab, gaze scanning over every potential hiding spot he could see.  “Wu, get out here! If I have to drag you out of whatever little hidey-hole you’ve found, you’re not going to be happy!”

 

A metal door with a card reader next to it slid open and the man in question walked out looking completely unconcerned. “Mr. Grady, what can I, uh, do for you?  I hope you realize how much you’ve upset the progress being made in this lab?”

 

Owen waited just long enough for the metal door to close and lock behind the scientist before darting forward and grabbing the front of Wu’s lab coat, slamming the man back against the metal door.  “Tell me why I shouldn’t beat the ever living shit out of you.”

 

“Mr…Mr. Grady, if you’ll tell me what it is specifically you think I’ve done, I’m sure I can find a way to help you.” Wu’s voice was slightly strained as he was being lifted onto his tiptoes and Owen’s fist was pressed under his chin and against his throat.

 

“What…what you did? You lied to me, asshole.  You told me very specifically that there was _no way_ that the girls could go into heat.  They didn’t function that way.  They weren’t created to be able to do that.  Well _guess what!_ Blue went into heat last night!  And do you want to know how I know? _Because I can feel it!_ ” Owen slammed the man back against the metal door again, more than happy when his head bounced off the unforgiving metal.

 

“Owen! Owen, put Dr. Wu down. You can tell me what’s happened and we’ll get this all straightened out.” Claire’s voice was gentle, coaxing as she walked towards the enraged handler and his captive, her hands held out non-threateningly.

 

The tiny part of Wu’s brain that wasn’t solely focused on the man holding him, thought it was amusing that Claire was treating Owen much as Owen did his raptors, but then he did say he was feeling what his “beta” he called Blue was.  _I wonder if the aggression is a side effect of the heat cycle or simply Mr. Grady's response to stimuli beyond his control..._

 

Owen didn’t bother turning around, just continued to glare at Wu, though his voice did turn friendly as he spoke to her. “Hi, Claire.  Remember when the others quit because Wu and Vic didn’t tell them the full truth about the project?  Well this time, Wu flat out lied.  When he and Vic came to recruit me while I was in the hospital, he told me there was _no way_ that the girls could go into heat, that they’d gotten rid of that pesky DNA strand that let them turn hermaphroditic and reproduce on their own, that they’d been genetically modified to essentially be asexual.  It wouldn’t be a problem.  Well, you know what, Claire.  Blue went into heat last night.  You want to know how I know this? Because thanks to that little growing psychic link I have with the four of them, _I can feel it! And it’s horrible and never ending and it’s driving me up a fucking wall!”_ Owen finished yelling and slammed Wu back against the door hard enough to make his head bounce again.

 

“Owen, come on, let him go.  Dr. Wu can’t even begin to do anything if you won’t let him go…or if you knock him unconscious slamming his head into the door like that.” Claire reached out, sliding her hand comfortingly down his back only to watch wide-eyed as he shivered, the muscles contracting and flexing under his shirt, before he jerked away from the light touch.  Yanking her hand back, she began to get an idea of exactly how bad this might be for Owen; he was a tactile person, if he couldn’t handle even a friendly touch…  Backing away, she moved to stand against the wall next to them so Owen could easily see her.  “Owen, you’re smarter than this, and you know I don’t like saying that.” She smiled when she saw the smile tug at his lips at one of their familiar arguments; good, he wasn’t completely lost in his head.  “Let Henry go and we can all sit down and try to figure out what went wrong and what we can do.  I promise; we’ll figure something out.” She reached out to him again, her hand almost landing on his arm before she remembered and pulled it back.

 

Owen hesitated a long moment, warring with himself over the urge to just go ahead and beat Wu to a pulp or to release him so the man could do whatever it is he does in the lab to figure out how to fix this. Seeing Claire’s hand reaching for him, hesitating before pulling away, he slammed the doctor into the door one more time just to hear his head bounce off the metal again and released him, stalking away to pace across the floor.  Yelling, he tugged at his hair, just wanting to stop feeling the way he was.  He glanced at his watch. It had already been about an hour since he’d gotten off in the shower and he was starting to feel the, now familiar, signs of Blue’s heat starting up again.  Apparently something he’d done in the shower had made a difference.

 

Watching Owen pace, the way he glanced at his watch, Wu hummed consideringly. Interesting.  “Why don’t we go to my office? I can pull up the records on the Velociraptor experiment and we can have some tea and…calm down some.”

 

Owen glared at the scientist’s choice of words.

 

Claire pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath, mentally counting backwards from fifty as she often did Owen’s presence.  Looking up at the pacing wrangler, she just waved in the direction of Wu’s office and rolled her eyes at the offended look he gave her and stabbed her finger in the direction of the office instead. Ignoring his huffing response, she trailed after him, her mind already going over the events of the morning. _This is going to be a paperwork nightmare._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m also amused by all your thoughts on Wu. All I can say is that, he’s a scientist, he wants to know the how and why of things. He’s not evil or a bad guy, chaotic neutral maybe??, he’s just very focused on his work and once they’re thinking and living on their own, they kinda are no longer his concern- they were viable creations so they were a success. At least until they do something unexpected. What Owen can do is a whole new thing for Wu so he’s intrigued. Also, you guys have no idea how much I’m loving your comments (*growls* or how many fucking plot bunnies some of you have given me *coughs*) but seriously, just look at the hits and kudos on this thing. I love you all *group hugs*


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